This invention relates to a hair brush having a stalk-like handle and a plurality of bristles which are mounted on arcuately shaped, pivotably mounted bristle members, the bristle members being mounted in a longitudinal housing which is U-shaped in cross section and open at one of its ends, said bristle members are arranged in a plurality adjacently and with a distance relative to one another and may be pivoted by means of a slide guided in the housing below the bristle members from a position of non-use in which the bristles are arranged obliquely one upon the other into a position of use in which the bristles extend beyond the housing at its top edge in a vertical or approximately vertical manner.
Such hair brushes are particularly suited for being carried or stored in a handbag or a pocket, in which they can be placed in a space-saving manner due to the pivotability of the bristles into a position of non-use when the hair brush is not in use.
From British Patent Application No. A 2,173,092 a hair brush is already known in which the bristles members are pivotably mounted with their ends in the longitudinal side walls of a housing which is U-shaped in cross section. In the position of non-use, the bristles lie flatly between a slide guided in the housing and the bottom of the housing. In order to bring the bristles in the position of use, the slide has to be pulled out of the housing and turned by 180.degree., thereafter it is again pushed into the housing, namely between the bristle members and the bottom of the housing. In doing so, the bristles are erected due to lever action into the position of use. This kind of securing the bristles in the position of non-use and bringing the bristles into the position of use is complicated and time-consuming.
Furthermore, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,314 a hair brush is known in which the longitudinal bristle members which are mounted in the side surfaces of the housing with U-shaped cross section rest vertically on the slide in the position of use of the bristles. In order to bring the bristles in the position of non-use, the slide has to be pulled out of the lower part of the housing and pushed into the upper part of the housing, in doing so, the bristle members with the bristles are pivoted into an oblique position, i.e. into the position of non-use. This kind of bringing the bristle members and the bristles into a position of use and back into a position of non-use is likewise complicated and time-consuming.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,340, there is further known a hair brush in which the bristles are arranged on a single longitudinal bristle carrier formed as a slide which is slidable up and down in a housing being open at its top by means of a dial provided at the outside of the housing in order to bring the bristles in the positions of use and non-use. Due to this, the constructional height of the housing must be relatively large because the bristles must be moved over their whole length into the housing in order to bring them in the position of non-use. This hair brush is therefore not only bulky but has also a relatively high weight.